Proud to Serve
by Math Princess
Summary: Sookie is missing her husband, Captain Northman, while he is away fulfilling his duty to his country. Captain Northman has a surprise up his sleeve.


**a/n **_This story is slightly inspired by my own life, mostly because my husband is away at training right now for the Army - although he's not a Captain, and would be one of the trainees under Captain Northman's watchful eye. This has been beta'd by the lovely Northwoman, who yells at me when my plot is too thin - but in a loving way - but any remaining mistakes are totally mine. XOXO, NW! These characters, of course, do not belong to me... but you already knew that, didn't you?_

**Sookie POV**

Not too long after getting home from work Friday afternoon, I sank to the couch and flipped on the TV, glancing at the calendar on the wall with big red X's through most of the days of July. I sat and watched a rerun of The Daily Show for as long as I could, until the shadowbox full of my husband's ribbon racks and military awards we kept on display under the wall-mounted television, was all I could see. My coworkers – fellow librarians at the University library downtown - had all been asking after him, and their well-meaning comments of _it'll be over before you know it_ and _it was so hard that time my husband went away for two days for business_ had sunk me into a funk. You'd think I'd be used to it by now, since he'd enlisted between our junior and senior years of high school – at the very beginning of our relationship – and here we were, ten years later.

Frustrated, I wiped away the tear that rolled down my face and checked my cell phone for the hundredth time of the evening. My husband, Eric, an Army Captain, had accepted a temporary duty assignment away from his current station at the beginning of June to a relatively nearby Army base to fill in for a fellow Captain (and friend) whose mother was currently losing her long, bitter battle with breast cancer. Captain Northman was now training young soldiers in their final stage of preparation before they were eligible for their jobs in the military.

The problem? He was located within driving distance of home, but I hadn't seen in him in weeks. His new position, since it was more than 90 miles from home, wouldn't allow him to commute and required his attention seven days a week and practically 24 hours a day. It was strange to me, how this duty assignment had been the hardest for me out of Eric's previous years of service; when he'd been in Afghanistan or Iraq he was so out of reach that every minute spent talking to him was a treasure. Now, at the base just two hours from our home, we communicated semi-regularly, which made it easy to take for granted. It seemed to me that talking to him and seeing him occasionally – when he could spare 15 or 20 minutes - on FaceTime made it much harder to be without him. I'd had half a mind to just drive myself over on more than one occasion, but his duty schedule was so tricky – and could change at a moment's notice – it would undoubtedly just be a waste of gas. Not to mention, a spouse showing up while a soldier was on duty was highly frowned upon; especially in front of the young trainees. Making it even worse was the fact I knew the leaders for one of the other training classes had given their soldiers a pass for the weekend and were, largely, going home to see their own families this weekend.

I dragged myself off the sofa and to our bedroom, and then into the master bath, hoping a long soak in the tub would help me shake my Friday evening woes. While the tub filled, I lit a few candles, dumped a generous portion of my favorite bath salts into the water and poured myself a glass of red wine. Just as I turned off the water and moved to shrug my satin robe off my shoulders, I heard a small tapping at the door. Sighing, I went to answer it, figuring it was the soldier from the Family Wellness outreach come to mow my yard – at least the Army had a good procedure in place to make sure the spouses were never in need while their loved one was gone.

It was definitely a soldier at my door; one I had not been expecting. He was tall and handsome and smiled winningly as I opened the door, clutching a small overnight bag in one hand. "Evening, Mrs. Northman," he said politely, "I hear your husband's been gone for a while." He looked amazing in his ACUs.

I quirked my eyebrow, but replied, "He has. Won't be home for a few more weeks."

"I'm sure he misses you terribly," he answered, his eyes traveling up and down my body appreciatively.

I couldn't help the tears that threatened to fill my eyes. "I miss him, too."

"Well, I was wondering if there was anything I could help you with, since he's not around." His eyes got stuck at my chest for a moment before he met my eyes again.

I pretended to think about it for a moment, my face getting hot at the soldier's obvious attentions. "Actually, there is," I said, and smirked at the eager look on the soldier's face. "The yard really needs mowing. It's really gotten out of hand since he's been gone." Total lie. It was barely tall enough to mow again – like I said, the Family Wellness group here was great.

"Yes, ma'am," he said, taking a look around. "Is your mower in the garage?"

"No; in the shed in the back yard. Go on back. You should be able to find it without a problem. Once you're done, feel free to come on in for a glass of tea."

"Yes, ma'am," he repeated, pulling his cover off his head and reaching to undo his blouse. "Can you put these inside for me?" he asked, handing me his discarded clothing and the bag he was holding.

I nodded, trying not to eye the smooth planes of muscled chest and carved arms revealed by the soldier's tan-colored, issued undershirt when his blouse came off. He handed them to me and grinned lopsidedly. "I'll finish as fast as I can, Mrs. Northman."

I walked back inside and practically sprinted to the bathroom. I blew out the candles and drained the tub, only slightly regretting the good bath salts gone to waste, then jumped in the shower after pinning up my hair. I washed and groomed at lightning speed, getting out of the shower quickly. I toweled off, pulling my hair back down to lay around my shoulders. I dressed quickly in one of my favorite sundresses and went back out to the kitchen to make some tea.

Just as I was stirring in the sugar, the soldier tapped on the side door from the back yard, into the kitchen. I motioned him in with one hand, then filled two glasses with ice. He had made quick work of the yard, but the hot Southern sun and humidity had made his t-shirt stick to his back. I handed him a kitchen towel and he wiped his face and neck with it, leaning against the cabinets. After I poured him a glass, he sucked it down quickly, so I refilled it before leaning beside him to drink my own glass. "Thank you," I said quietly, not sure exactly what else the soldier was expecting out of his visit, only what I hoped would come next.

"I am proud to serve, ma'am," he replied, setting his glass on the countertop, he turned to face me. The kitchen suddenly felt very small as he shifted almost imperceptibly toward me. His eyes darkened as he asked, "Is there _anything_ else I can help you with?"

I felt my heart race as I pondered his question. "Well . . ." I began, but was cut off by his mouth covering my own and his hands ghosting down my arms to rest on my hips. Finally glad to be rid of the charade, I wrapped my own arms up around his neck to hold him close.

His kisses moved toward my ear, his tongue teasing the sensitive spot underneath it, before he whispered, "God, Sookie, I can't believe you made me mow the yard first."

I leaned into his hands as they kneaded and squeezed my hips, having missed his touch more than I could ever recall. "Serves you right for surprising me, Captain," I retorted, narrowing my eyes up at him playfully. He knew I hated surprises, even if this one was pretty damn good. Besides, it's not like he could have mowed the entire yard in the 20 minutes I was in the shower.

He laughed and winked at me then nipped my earlobe. "I'm sure it will be worth it," he said huskily as his hands slipped under my skirt and found me bare.

I grinned when his chest rumbled as he slid his fingers between my legs. "Take me to bed, Captain," I said. "That's an order."

"Yes, ma'am." He hefted me up by ass, pressing me into his own arousal to carry me to our bedroom. I kissed him again, letting my tongue duel with his while he walked and savoring the moans that escaped when I pressed my hips suggestively to his.

Eric walked to the edge of our bed and set me down but leaned down over me to prevent breaking our kiss. I put my hands to work, untying and unbuttoning his trousers, then pushing them down over his hips. He pulled my dress up over my head, but then had to pause for a few, precious moments to remove his boots before crawling up onto the bed over me.

I welcomed him home in the best way I knew how. A couple of hours later, we lay tangled in the sheets, our fingers twined together. "How long are you home?"

"Till Sunday night. One of the Captains, from class twenty-two tango, relieved me for the weekend; he's single so he didn't mind sticking around to keep the soldiers from getting into too much trouble." Since most of the soldiers in this last step of initial training were young – mostly 18 – and they'd been shipped directly from Basic Training, toward the end they started to get antsy.

I squeezed his hand. "I'm glad you came."

He rolled up on his side and winked, then waggled his eyebrows. "More than once."

I laughed and smacked his shoulder. "Come on, here, Eric, I'm trying to have a moment."

"I thought you already had a few," he said, winking again, and I rolled my eyes. He tugged on my hand, pulling me out of bed. "Come on, let's have a bite to eat."

We stumbled into the kitchen and he smirked when I put my apron on since I was naked underneath it. We fell into our comfortable routine, he set the table and cooked the eggs while I made chocolate chip pancakes and fried sausage – couldn't have the grease splashing on the family jewels, after all. As we sat down to eat our very late dinner or very early breakfast, depending on how you looked at it, I caught Eric gazing at me tenderly.

"I really have missed you, Sookie," he said, cutting into his pancakes.

"I've missed you too. Amelia has been keeping me occupied on the weekends, though, so I'm not mopey." Amelia and her husband Tray – also an Army Captain – had been our best friends since college and we were fortunate enough to be stationed in the same place currently.

"Good."

We talked about a few other things as we continued eating – our friends, renovations we were planning for the house when Eric got home for good, my job at the library, recent happenings on Post, but mostly we just basked in the others' presence. After we'd done the dishes – he washed, I dried – we went back to bed, curling up next to each other, falling asleep in each others' arms.

On Saturday, we went out for lunch and saw a movie, enjoying our couple time. Saturday evening was spent at home, alternating between the bed and snacking in the kitchen.

**Eric POV**

Sunday night, I reloaded my small duffel bag into my truck in the driveway knowing Sookie was watching me from the front porch. I had been pushing the time to head back, but knew that being tired at 0400 formation would be worth the extra minutes with my wife. After everything was ready to go, I walked back to the porch to kiss her goodbye.

There were tears streaming down her face. "Hey," I said, wiping them away with my thumbs. "None of that."

She grinned halfheartedly, her lip wobbling. "I'm sorry. I've really been missing you."

I pulled her into my arms. "I know, Lover. I know. Just three more weeks."

She nodded into my chest, her arms tightening around my waist. "Easy peasy."

I kissed the top of her head. "Lemon squeazy." I put a finger under her chin to make her look up. Once she met my eyes, I leaned down and kissed her with everything I had. This kiss had to last three weeks.

She kissed me back and held me tight when I hugged her. "Thanks for coming home, Eric. I needed it."

"I always need you," I replied. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

I got in the truck and drove back to base in the dark, thinking back over our weekend. It had totally been worth mowing the yard.

The next week, we found out the reason for Sookie's unusual melancholy. She was expecting our first child.

* * *

**a/n** ** Also, I am not pregnant. And my husband's not 18; in fact, he's one of the oldest trainees in his class currently - and the only SPC to pass the PFT today! And he's not active duty (ARNG), so I'm imagining most of those details (so please forgive me if they're not entirely accurate). Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!**


End file.
